Method of operating a surgical microscope and surgical microscope

Abstract

A method of operating a surgical microscope includes receiving an instruction to move the camera relative to the object, operating a zoom lens to zoom out and displaying images obtained by processing images recorded by the camera such that centers of the displayed images correspond to a target position within the recorded images and such that the magnification of the object displayed in the images is the initial magnification, wherein the target position is displaced within the recorded images relative to the first position, and operating actuators to move the camera.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of operating a surgical microscope, the surgical microscope including at least one camera having a zoom lens, a support for the at least one camera, the support including at least one actuator for positioning the at least one camera relative to an object; and a display configured to display images obtained by processing the images recorded by the at least one camera, the method comprising:
 positioning the at least one camera to have an initial position relative to the object and displaying the images obtained by processing the images recorded by the at least one camera such that centers of displayed images correspond to a first position within recorded images and such that a magnification of the object displayed in the images is a given magnification; 
 receiving an instruction at a first time to move the at least one camera relative to the object to a target position; and 
 in response to the instruction to move the at least one camera: 
 zooming out by operating the zoom lens until a field of view of the at least one camera at the target position comes into a field of view of the images recorded by the at least one camera; 
 cropping the images recorded by the at least one camera such that the field of view of the displayed images corresponds to the field of view of the at least one camera at the target position; 
 displaying the images obtained by processing the images recorded by the at least one camera; 
 moving the at least one camera to the target position by operating the at least one actuator; and 
 subsequent to zooming out, zooming in by operating the zoom lens. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the operating of the zoom lens to zoom out takes less time to complete than the operating of the at least one actuator to move the at least one camera takes to complete. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the instruction to move the at least one camera includes target information representing the target position of the object imaged to a center of an image when the instructed operating of the at least one actuator to move the at least one camera has been completed, and 
 the target position of the object is imaged to the second position within the image recorded. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein: the zoom lens is at a first zoom position at the first time, and the zoom lens is at the first zoom position after the instructed operating of the at least one actuator to move the at least one camera has been completed. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein: the operating of the zoom lens to zoom out requires a first duration, and the operation of the zoom lens to zoom in takes longer than the first duration. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the operation of the zoom lens to zoom in is performed during the operating of the at least one actuator to move the at least one camera. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the operating of the at least one actuator to move the at least one camera is performed such that the at least one camera performs a translatory movement. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the operating of the at least one actuator to move the at least one camera is performed such that the at least one camera performs a rotatory movement. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one camera is a stereo camera. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one camera includes two cameras. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display is configured to display stereoscopic images. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the display is a head-mounted display. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the display comprises:
 a screen displaying the images obtained by processing the images recorded by a first camera and a second camera of the at least one camera; and 
 a pair of glasses wearable by a user and allowing the user to see the displayed images obtained by processing the images recorded by the first camera with his or her left eye and to see the displayed images obtained by processing the images recorded by the second camera with his or her right eye. 
 
     
     
       14. The surgical microscope comprising:
 the at least one camera having the zoom lens; 
 the support for the at least one camera and having the at least one actuator for positioning the at least one camera relative to the object; 
 the display configured to display the images obtained by processing the images recorded by the at least one camera; and 
 a controller configured to perform the method of  claim 1  with the surgical microscope.